Blush
by Darkflames and fire
Summary: Hope and Lightning remain behind to collect themselves after waking up in Lake Bresha. The two talk for a bit and it might just spark something more. Either way, it all began with a blush. Hope x Lightning. In-game. T for safety. (Terrible summary is terrible)
1. Chapter 1

Blitz: So we're re-playing the game right now, and upon the first cutscene of lake bresha, this idea came to us. A sort of... remake, of Lightning being all silent to Hope while everyone walked away and him going without saying anything. Also, don't forget this is kinda going off Hope's knowledge, so he doesn't know Sazh and Light's names yet. The only time the boss references Sazh, he will be called 'the afro guy'. We'll actually be making it a series of one-shots taken from the game, all connected, and probably with them getting together eventually. For those of you who know him, Nightingale may or may not be popping in here and there.

Darkflame: Yeah. This is obviously centered around blushing, so it was all Blitz's idea.

Blitz: And we would also like to say that the boss does not own Final Fantasy. If he did, Hope and Lightning would've been kissing each other senseless by the end of the game.

Darkflame: And Hope would've gone with Lightning to Valhalla. (or whatever that stupid place is)

* * *

Snow, the afro guy, and Vanille quickly set out to find Serah, the monsters that Lake Bresha held not seeming to faze them in the slightest. Hope almost turned to go following them, when he realized the the pink-haired woman wasn't yet following either. He turned around to approach her, and as he looked into her eyes, they almost looked completely vulnerable and weak.

"U-Um... I-" he tried to speak, but he stopped when she abrubtly turned around. Letting out a deep breath and crossing her arms over her chest. Hope blushed, though he didn't even register why. He thought about leaving for a moment, he didn't need this after losing his mother. But something stopped him. He remembered the other girl, the one who just turned to crystal. It seemed like this woman had just lost her sister, so... shouldn't she need the same comfort he did?

"What do you want?" she asked suddenly, apparently realizing his approach. He almost smacked himself in the face after realizing she had a soldier's insignia on her shoulder armor . Of course a soldier would hear him coming. Hope stopped a foot or two away from her, hoping she wouldn't deck him like she had done to Snow.

"I-I uhh... that girl. Was she your sister?" Hope asked, closing his eyes in preparation for the hit that would surely come. When no such thing happened, he opened his eyes to see that the pink-haired soldier had turned towards him. Her icy blue eyes sparkled in the wonderland around him, and the young boy felt his cheeks turn scarlet.

"Yeah, what of it?" she replied, her commanding voice almost scaring him. Hope pushed past it, though, hoping it was just her being defensive.

"W-Well, I-I just thought I'd say I'm s-sorry you couldn't save her." he said, making her eyes widen. He almost thought she was going to hit him, but instead the woman dropped to her knees, and then fell to her bottom, leaning her back against one of Lake Bresha's many frozen waves. He saw her eyes glisten, and realized she probably wouldn't have done this if anyone else had been there.

"You... You're right. I couldn't save her and now she is- and now Serah..." She closed her eyes, trailing off sadly. Hope felt bad for bringing about this small breakdown, and so against all the warning signs going off in his head, he moved and sat next to the soldier, their shoulders touching ever so slightly.

"My mom died." he said simply, not really knowing why, but just hoping she would open up to him if he did to her. "We were only visiting Bodhum when they forced us on the train, but I already told you that, didn't I?" He was speaking retorically now, and he knew it. She wouldn't answer, she would merely listen to the rest of the story as he gave it to her. "I... I was so scared, sitting on that train. 'Pulse is hell on earth!' everybody always says. I didn't want to be forced there, for mom to be forced there. And so, when all the battles started with the rebels and the sanctum, I took her hand and tried to hide at the back of the crowd with her." He stiffened as he felt an unfamiliar weight plop down on his shoulder, and turned his head ever so slightly to meet a curtain of pink hair.

"I'm still listening, you know." the woman told him, startling Hope into continuing the story. Her voice was softer now. She almost seemed to be falling asleep, but either way, his story was calming her grief.

"Then... that man, Snow, came." Hope continued. He heard an angry sound from Lightning at the mention of the blond man's name, and he figured that Snow had something to do with Serah, too. "Him and his gang had a pile of guns with them. People wanted to fight, so... they just handed them out. When there was only one left, he gave the crowd this disappointing look, and told us nothing was happening until somebody took the last one." Tears sprung to the boy's eyes at this point, but he felt comforted by the weight of the woman leaning on him.

"He... He didn't protect her. Not a single argument when she got up or when he saw me sitting there. When he failed to grab a rocket launcher to take down an airship she had to. And when that ship accidently shot the bridge... he let her fall. There weren't even any serious wounds on her! H-He just let her fall! And now I'm alone!" Hope was shouting by the end. Tears were coming down his cheeks and his body trembled in a heated mixture of rage and sadness and torment. The woman didn't remove her head from its' resting place on his shoulder, but she did, however, wrap an arm around his middle to grab one of his hands.

"Our lives suck." she said solemnly. Hope would have laughed had it not been completely true, but something was bothering him now that he'd told the story to the woman next to him.

"What's your name?" he asked, just sitting and looking around at the sparkling sea of crystal around them.

"Lightning." she said. "Lightning Farron."

"Hope Estheim." There was a comfortable silence between the two l'cie for a while, during which Lightning kept on resting on Hope's shoulder, and the young boy tried to think of something to say.

"I... uh... Are you going to be alright?" he stuttered out, beginning to become unnerved by the silence. After a few minutes of Lightning remaining silent, Hope craned his neck slightly so he could see her face, and was surprised to find the woman asleep on his shoulder. Instead of freaking out and waking the woman up, Hope decided to take this time to study her.

Lightning seemed completely relaxed and comfortable sleeping on his shoulder, not scowling or frowning for the first time since he saw her. There may have even been a hint of a content smile on her face. She looked beautiful to Hope. He would even say she looked cute, knowing it would get him killed, the way she kept her lips ever so slightly parted as she slept. Hope just watched her for a few minutes before realizing the position they were in wasn't the most comfortable one to sleep in. Lightning's back was twisted so she could lay on him, and he himself couldn't rest for fear of sliding on the slippery crystal surface of the ground and wall behind him. Carefully, so as not to wake the beautiful woman sleeping on his shoulder, Hope shrugged off the yellow jacket he wore, folding it up and placing it on the ground next to him.

He made sure his movements were slow and precise as he lowered Lightning's head onto his makeshift pillow. She made a weird sound, something between a cute squeak and a yawn, before rolling over and wrapping her arms around Hope's waist.

His face lit up scarlet as the pinkette cutely hung on to him. With no other choice, Hope placed his head next to Lightning's on the folded up coat. His blush wasn't about to let up anytime soon, as Lightning's face was mere centimeters from his own as she pulled him closer in her sleep. He gave up any hope of escaping this situation, and since Lightning seemed ever-so comfy sleeping next to him, Hope decided to sleep as well, closing his eyes after giving the woman a slight peck on the forehead. As he closed his eyes, only one thought remained prominent.

Was that a blush dusting her cheeks?

line

Blitz: Yay for total fluffiness!

Darkflame: As you can see, this was a one-shot dedicated to the idea of blushing.

Blitz: Yup! And we also have a great idea! This will be a series of one-shots, of different Hope x Light moments throughout the game, and maybe if the reviewers want it, they'll actually get together at the end!

Darkflame: Yeah...

Blitz: Don't be so unenthusiastic. We all know this is your favorite pairing.

Darkflame: Shut it, Blitz!


	2. Chapter 2

Blitz: Hello! Chapter 2 here. This is the scene where they almost get captured at lake Bresha, because we imagined Hope doing this and needed to get it out. They might be kind of OOC, and we really apologize.

Darkflame: We do not own Final Fantasy 13

* * *

Lightning felt somebody else's breath tickling her neck when she woke up, and the warmth in such a place made her cheeks heat up. She suddenly remembered everything that had happened with Hope, and quickly opened her eyes to find that she had squeezed him close to her while under the infinite power of sleep. It was indeed his breath fanning onto her neck while he breathed, seeming quite content in their position.

The soldier couldn't believe she had been holding the boy like a teddy bear.

She shook her head free of the... rather inappropriate (for the current situation) thoughts that came to mind. While the pinkette would rather let the boy sleep, (it was probably her fault anyway, since she fell asleep on his shoulder) they had to get moving before the others became suspicious of their absence.

Lightning took her arms from their place around his waist and shook the young boy by the shoulder. He woke slowly, most likely dazed from sleeping on the hard crystal ground. A gloved hand came to rub the sleep out of his eyes, and she saw a small ripple of muscle move from under his tight black T-shirt. Maybe he would become useful afer all...

"Mmm... *yawn* Hi, Light." he said, opening his eyes to meet hers. She remembered the tender kiss he had placed on her forhead before sleeping, and felt the blood rise to her cheeks, giving them a rosy pink hue. Hope was apparently fine as he sat up and looked around them, almost looking like a soldier without the jacket on. The seargent quickly stood up and handed him the coat he had placed under her head.

"Thanks." she said sheepishly as he took the garment, slipping it on. "I needed the talking and rest."

Hope merely smiled and gave her a nod.

"Let's go find the others." Lightning said, groaning at the thought of having to listen to Snow talk from now on. "Snow's probably talked them half to death by now."

* * *

Hope watched with interest as Lightning jumped up the broken platforms of the bridge, landing a perfectly executed flip at the top. He himself just used his new l'cie strength to jump and grab the platforms, climbing up to find that the hardened soldier had already found the others fighting some cie'ths. She quickly joined them, slashing up the failed l'cie with expert precision and strength. He sent the enemies some fire and thunder spells, significantly weakening them, and staggering one, which Lightning quickly slashed nearly in two. It disintegrated shortly after.

Once the battling was done, Snow turned towards the group looking absolutely overjoyed and confident.

"Hehe, this just might work!" he told them, bringing his fist down. The others seemed relatively unimpressed, Lightning and Hope especially. "We fight it! Ragnarok!" he told them, jumping down from his perch at the top of a crystal hill. "That's the reason we're l'cie! To stop it- to keep Cocoon safe!"

"Yeah, why don't you give us one reason to believe that? One reason." Sazh asked skeptically, sounding interested nonetheless.

"Serah." Snow replied simply, more serious than before. Sazh gave out a confused sound, along with Vanille. Lightning and Hope remained behind them, looking passive, yet they both saw the fire in each other's eyes that Snow's speech had erupted. He was trying to play hero again. "She said to protect Cocoon, and then she turned to crystal. That's the proof right there! She completed her focus!" he shouted, sounding sure of himself. "That means ours is to save cocoon." He turned towards Lightning, who was livid at him bringing her sister into this. "Serah's fal'cie was the same as ours. Our focus has got to be the same. We were chosen to be guardians, to defeat Ragnarok! It makes sense!" he tried to convince them. Sazh, who was next to him at the end of the speech, threw his hands into the air and walked away.

"The hell it does! You're graspin' at straws, son!" he told Snow, and Hope smiled a bit at that. Lightning smirked a bit as well, seeing Snow's aghast face at being called 'son'. "Pulse fal'cie are Cocoon's enemies. We just got recruited by one of them." Vanille seemed saddened at his logic. Sazh continued past the grim faces of his companions. "If I were a bettin' man..." he said darkly, "... I'd put us on the other side."

"So Serah's an enemy, too?" Snow retorted, attempting to hold on to his point. "Well I don't buy it!" he said angrily, looking around at the other three. He approached Lightning, touching the brand on his forearm. "We have the power to save Cocoon. We have to work together and carry out-"

Lightning, who was fuming at this point, pulled out her gunblade and had it at Snow's throat in a half-second.

"Our focus?" she inquired angrily, pressing the cold steel harder against his neck. "The fal'cie took Serah from us, and you want to help it?" she shouted incredulously, shocking the others. "Who's side are you on?"

"FREEZE!" came the shout from behind them, the voice altered by the high-tech helmet the wearer wore. Hope immediately stood at the ready when he saw the PSICOM soldiers approaching. Lightning also had her gunblade ready, and the silver-haired boy saw her fingers tighten around the hilt, indicating her anticipation for the battle.

Hope turned around when two more soldiers appeared from behind them.

"Place your hands behind your heads!" the a soldier shouted, the threat against their lives obviously implied. Sazh, Vanille, and Snow complied immediately, bringing their hands to rest on the back of their heads. Hope did so after making sure he was prepared to launch spells at a moments notice. Lightning reluctantly dropped her gunblade, shooting Hope a look that said 'don't try anything.'

"You fall off the purge train?" the leader of the soldiers asked, moving towards Lightning threateningly. She would be vulnerable without her gunblade and the soldier knew it, as she hadn't bothered trying to learn any magic. She finally placed her hands behind her head, and Hope, who had turned to face the leader, couldn't help but notice how... seductive... she looked to him.

"Maybe." she said calmly, a smirk dancing across her lips. The leader approached her, finally taking his gun from behind his head and appearing angry.

"Are you talking back to me!?" he demanded, placing the barrel of his gun directly to Lightning's temple. Hope became enraged, seeing this, and he didn't know why.

Lightning attempted to remain cool on the outside, but on the inside she was scared that the leader of the PSICOM unit was about to shoot her. She tried to think of a way out of the situation, or at least a way to stall and give her more time.

"Well?" the commander demanded, giving Lightning an idea. She gave a small suppressed chuckle and turned so the barrel instead aimed at her shoulder, and she could look the commander in the face, er... helmet.

"Nice gun." She complimented in a low voice, hoping to shock the commander long enough for her to grab her gunblade. It didn't work, as she noticed the other soldiers advancing and placing cuffs on the others. She could practically hear the smirk in his voice as he commanded the other soldiers.

"Take the others to the prison blocks but leave this one in my quarters." he told them, motioning to Lightning. "Think I'll have a little fun before we turn her over to the executioner." he finished, chuckling. Lightning, closed her eyes, wishing it was just a bad dream, but when she opened them again, there was still a soldier placing cuffs on her hands, and she was still going to be most likely raped later. The commander chuckled and reached a hand towards her chest. "How 'bout one for the road, honey?" he said in a menacing voice. Just as the terrible commander's hand was about to come into contact with Lightning's shirt, a massive bolt of lightning struck him in the head.

Everybody in the clearing stood shocked, including the soldiers and Lightning, as the commander convulsed madly while the electricity shot through his veins. After almost a minute straight of the deadly effect, the soldier crumpled to the ground harshly, armor clunking loudly and echoing into the vast expance of Lake Bresha. All eyes turned to the source of the harsh electric spell.

An absolutely livid Hope with a pair of melted cuffs at his feet and electricity arcing from his hands.

"Don't you dare touch her." he said in a harsh voice. "Now leave before I do the same to you." The soldiers were out of sight before anybody knew what was happening, and the l'cie, save for Hope and Lightning, collapsed to the ground from the sedative effect of the cuffs. While in the Guardian Corps. Lightning had learned how to counteract the effects of the sedatives with a simple breathing technique.

Hope waited a few minutes before lowering his hands and moving towards Lightning.

"T-Thank you." she whispered, her normal, confident tone being replaced by something much more timid. The (quite rational, if you look at it) fear had taken over for those few seconds when the PSICOM commander was about to touch her, and yet... Hope had saved her. When the other l'cie finally reached the pinkette, his hand immediately went for her own, to which she flinched away, looking as if stung.

"Sorry." Hope muttered sadly, hating himself for instilling such fear into the woman in front of him. Her cheeks heated up scarlet when he put his arms back to his sides, waiting for her to make the move, surprised at the gentlemanly act. Lightning slowly, over the course of a few minutes, built her strength back up, using her hands to take one of Hope's, as they were still cuffed together.

"I-It's fine." she stuttered out, voice regaining some of its usual confidence. "What just happened was just a bit..."

"Shocking? Startling?" Hope supplied, giving her a boyish grin. "Don't worry, Lightning. I intend to protect you as much as I can." he assured her, causing his companion to give him a rare, soft smile.

"Thank you." she whispered again. She nearly jumped five feet in the air when she felt the small heat come from where their hands met, and was surprised to find Hope using a fire spell to melt off the cuffs. Once the main locking mechanism had broken, Hope pulled the steel trap off of Lightning's slim wrists, allowing it to fall to the crystal ground with a soft clank.

He was surprised when he felt slender arms wrap around him, bringing the boy into a tight hug. Hope blushed profusely, feeling Lightning's curvaceous figure press against him, and returned the hug by swinging his own arms around her waist.

'She smells like strawberries...' Hope thought wistfully as she hugged him. They remained in the position for a bit before the older woman released him. She sent a smirk his way as she ruffled his hair.

"Maybe I'll turn you into a soldier yet." she told him encouragingly. Hope smiled back, a hint of red dusting his cheeks, as well as Lightning's. They looked at each other for a bit longer than needed, before Hope turned towards the others, scarlet hue growing stronger.

"We better wake them up." he said with a twinge of sadness. "And I was hoping to not hear Snow talk for a while." Lightning chuckled a bit at that thought, already moving to wake Vanille.

"Yeah. Me too."


End file.
